A Knight in the Lord's Army

A knight with a pilgrims.

One of the first passages I meditated on in the Bible back when I first learned lectio divina was from Ephesians 6: "Put on the armor of God,...stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness." I fell in love with the intense imagery of the passage, and I often reread it when I could use some encouragement. The idea of putting on armor has always brought me to medieval times when kings and queens and knights roamed throughout Europe.

I was a history major at the UW, but my concentration was in modern history, long past the days when medieval were traveling throughout the land. After a quick google search of knighthood, I found that the root of the word knight is "servant." A knight was originally someone designated to serve! The very first military knights were simple soldiers who traveled with pilgrims as protectors to help them reach their destination safely. This has brought a whole new idea to the passage. It's not of a knight preparing herself for battle, but of one donning the clothing that will allow her to defend her charges to the best of her ability.

In the introduction to his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes that he has been "set apart for the gospel." While praying with this passage, I found myself remembering back to the imagery from Ephesians. To become a knight, young men were singled out from early age, and taught how to be a knight--how to serve, how to protect, how to guide.

In many ways, then, the work I will be doing as a FOCUS missionary is akin to knighthood. I hope to serve, protect, and guide the students at Mary Washington in their journey of faith. I won't physically put on armor, but I will arm myself with the Sacraments, with prayer, and with community. I hope to live up to this call. I hope my words and actions will be girded in truth, clothed in righteousness.

Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:11-17)